Work Text:
Levi surveyed the group under his command, making mental notes about how they dealt with the situation. They’d meant to go on a seven day training excursion outside the walls, exploring territory that Erwin thought would have some kind of clue. Unfortunately, they failed to notice the signs of a rain storm coming. They were midway to their destination when the rain came down hard. They were forced to take shelter in a broken and abandoned village. Levi had to thank Hanji for going behind his back and packing more food and supplies for them, no matter how much his pride would be hurt. One of the cadets managed to make a fire without burning themselves, so Levi counted that one good thing that happened. It wasn’t until he saw the lighter in Jaeger’s hand he realized Jaeger was the one that started the fire.
“How long can rain last?” Connie whined, bringing his knees to his chest. “In my village the rain would last at least five days.” Sasha informed, sitting next to Connie by the fire. “In Shiganshina the rain would last three days to a month.” Armin said. “You all must of had a lot of mud.” Jean said, crossing his arms. Levi tried not to shudder at this information. The room was silent as the cadets left the conversation, listening to the rain. The rain was coming down so hard the sound of humming was almost unheard. When the cadets along with Levi tried to find the person humming, they discovered Eren was leaning on one of the building walls and humming some kind of song. He looked like he wasn’t there, like his soul and mind went somewhere else. “Eren?” Armin asked, Eren’s head turning to look at him. “What are you humming?” Armin continued. “It’s….just some song from when we lived in Shiganshina. It’s not important.” Eren sighed, playing with the ring on his right hand. “You used to sing that when we were sad or couldn’t sleep. What was it called? Little Baby?” Mikasa asked softly, surprising everyone. “It actually called The Mockingbird, but Hush, Little Baby was the name everyone knew.” Eren corrected.
"Can...can you sing it for us?” Krista asked, sounding nervous. Eren went silent, seemingly thinking. “Sure.” Eren decided, nodding. The cadets gathered around Eren, Levi even leaning in. “ Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.” Eren began singing softly. By the end of the song, some cadets were yawning. Levi hadn’t heard that lullaby in years. His mother used to sing it to him, even though she knew he knew she could never actually buy him those things. “Do...do you have another song you can sing?” Connie asked, yawning half way into the sentence. “Yeah, but it has two ways it can go.” Eren said. “What’s it called?” Armin asked. “Rock-a-Bye Baby.” Eren answered, letting Armin lay his head on his shoulder. Armin vaguely remembered the title of the lullaby, along with the lyrics. “Do you want me to sing it?” Eren asked the group, glancing at Levi and then looking away. The cadets said yes, and Eren began to sing. “Rock-a-bye, Baby, In the tree top: When the wind blows,The cradle will rock; When the Bough breaks, The cradle will fall; Down will come baby, Cradle and all.” Eren sang. He was going to sing the second version, but most of the cadets were falling asleep. “Hey brats, eat before you sleep.” Levi ordered. The cadets nodded and got up, retrieving bread and water from the bag Hanji had packed. Levi said as soon as they were done eating they could go to sleep, so that’s what they did.
The cadets woke to the sound of rain. “Looks like the rain didn’t stop.” Jean said, sitting up. “I don’t even think it slowed down.” Krista said. “Alright brats, come eat.” Levi said. They retrieved bread and water from the bag again, Sasha eating hers like it was her last meal. “If you don’t slow down, you’re going to choke.” Armin warned her. Sasha was too busy eating to reply, so Connie did it for her. “You’d be surprised. I’ve seen her eat stew , potatoes, and bread at the same time without choking.” Connie said, taking a bite out of his bread. “Um...okay.” Armin said, turning to his food. After everyone was finished eating, they began to talk. Sasha was in a conversation with Connie and Jean when she remembered what they were talking about last night. “Hey Eren? Do have any childhood stories you could share with us?” Sasha asked him, giving him the puppy dog eyes. “Yeah. Let me think…” Eren said, thinking of stories he could tell. “Oh! One day while Armin, Mikasa, and I were at the market…”
5 Years Previous…
“Armin, come on!” Eren said as they walked up a hill. “I-I’m coming!” Armin said, running to catch up to Mikasa and Eren. “What exactly do we need?” Armin asked when he caught up, walking beside Eren. “Let's look….fabric, sewing thread, potatoes, carrots, and beef.” Eren read of the list his mother gave him. “Fabric and sewing thread should be easy to find.” Mikasa said as she carried the basket Carla had given her. The three headed for the market, all kinds of smells and sounds in the air.
“Come get your meet!”
“Potatoes, potatoes, get your potatoes!”
“Apples, get your apples here!”
“There’s the potatoes. Lets go get some.” Eren said as he dug in his pocket to find the money his mom gave him for shopping. Mikasa nodded while Armin just followed them to the booth. “Ello, little lady and misters. Come to get potatoes?” the man asked, leaning on the potato booth. “Yes sir.” Eren said politely, handing the man some money. The man counted the money before reaching behind him and grabbing what looked like some kind of bag. He put four potatoes in the bag before giving it to Eren. “‘ave a good day!” the man said as they walked away. Eren put the potato filled bag in the basket before looking at the list. “Lets get carrots next.” Eren said, pointing to the carrot booth. Mikasa and Armin nodded once again following Eren. “Hello! Would you like some carrots, dears?” the lady behind the booth asked. Eren nodded and gave the lady money. She counted the money and then grabbed what looked like an old but clean newspaper from under the counter. The lady put ten carrots on the newspaper before rolling it up and giving it to Eren. “Have a nice day!” the lady smiled. “Two down, three to go.” Eren said as he put the carrots wrapped in newspaper in the basket as well. Eren then looked around, deciding what to do next. “You don’t think mama will mind if we just look around for a little while, right?” Eren asked. “Carla said to go shopping then come right home.” Mikasa pointed out. “Aw, come on Mika! We’re just looking around.” Eren exclaimed. “I don’t think Carla will mind. As long as we get back before dark, we should be fine.” Armin pointed out. Mikasa stared at Armin and Eren, and after a minutes said “Fine.”. Eren smiled and said they could meet up by the market gates.
Not ten minutes later Armin ended up at the old books booth. He was reading a book about the king when a boy came up to him. “Hey, could you hold this for me?” the boy asked, handing a book to Armin. “Sure.” Armin agreed. “Great. Thanks!” the boy said as he left the booth. Armin shrugged and looked at the book the boy gave him. It was a fairy tale book. Armin opened the book and began reading. Eleven minutes later, Armin heard “That’s him! That’s the boy who stole my book!”. Armin looked at the boy from earlier, noticing he had a woman with him. It took a minute to notice the cry came from the boy who was pointing at. The woman came up to him, ripped the books out of his hands, and handed it to the boy. “You young man should be arrested! Stealing a book from a poor little boy! Why, I never!” The woman’s shouting drew attention to Armin. “I-I d-didn’t steal anything!” Armin stuttered. “Lies! All lies!” the woman cried again. “What’s going on ma’am?” a police officer asked the woman. “This horrible boy stole from my baby!” the woman cried. Eren and Mikasa ran to Armin, trying to get the story out of him. “Look! He even wrote in it!” the boy with the book cried, opening the book to show the pages covered in ink. The woman went off on a rant again, the police officer looking annoyed. “Wait a darn gone minute! I saw everything!” the booth owner said. “Sir, what happened?” the police officer then asked the owner. The owner explained the whole story to the police officer. The woman turned her anger onto the her son, snapping at him.
Once the issue was dealt with, Eren turned to Armin and Mikasa. “I saw a fabric booth coming here. Come on.” Eren said as they headed out to get the rest of the groceries.
“Armin almost got arrested for a book?” Connie asked. “Yeah. Not one of his proudest moments.” Eren said. “Can you tell us another? Please!” Sasha begged. “Alright, alright!” Eren laughed. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin told stories from their childhood while waiting for the rain to stop. On the fifth day of being stuck in the rain, Erwin, Hanji, and more soldiers came to save them.
“So, what did you all do all that time?” Hanji asked as they began searching another abandoned building. “Jaeger, Arlert, and Ackerman shared their childhood stories.” Levi said, disgusted about the amount of dust on the building. “Aw!! That’s so cute! What’d you learn?” Hanji asked. Levi spent their time retelling the stories Eren, Armin, and Mikasa told him and the cadets to Hanji.